Like a Puzzle
by kAYe15L0
Summary: NaleyBrucas...Life is Tree Hill is never just normal, relationships take the test as new arrivals, hidden secrets, and ruined reputations start taking over the less than ordinary life. Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN OTH or any of its affiliations
1. In the Beginning very boring

**Hey, so this is my first fan fic, I'm setting up the story line so bear with me this chapter, I am aware of how bad/ boring it is but I promise it will get better. Doesn't really relate to the show except for the characters and their relationships with each other so keep that in mind. Give this one a chance. **

"I can't even remember life before you." He said taking his hand in hers.

"Ha…yea, I'm so sure." She joked while laughing

"Hales, I'm not kidding, I seriously can't remember." A smirk playing across his lips

"oh, Nathan, you of all people should know that that thing you do totally doesn't work on me."

"Yea whatever." He said finally going in to kiss her

"Alrite tutor girl, super star, break it up,_ I've _got some news!" said Brooke as she came waltzing in with Lucas and Peyton in tow quietly behind her. The group sat around one of the table's at Karen's café. Deb and Karen can be heard in the background laughing about something or another.

"Oh god Brooke, what now?" Nathan said as he rolled his eyes, they all became accustomed to Brooke's "news briefs" but that didn't mean they weren't getting weary of the whole act day after day. In fact, the girls anticipated it while Nathan and Lucas just kind of got dragged into the whole thing because of there girlfriends. Haley couldn't help thinking that even with the charade Nathan still enjoyed Brooke's updates, after all, he is the unofficial "kind" of Tree Hill high school, it's his job to know whats going on.

"P. Sawyer brace yourself." Brooke said trying to create suspense out of an entirely unsuspenseful situation.

"Brooke, just tell us, I've got some things to do at Tric that can't wait any longer."

"See, that the thing, after my news all the problems at Tric will be solved." Brooke said confidently but after seeing Peyton cock her eyebrow added, "Well for the time being anyway."

"Please Brooke, tell me now, I can't live my life without knowing what this big bad news that you possess is. How, how can I not now? I just can't imagine being held in this unbearable suspense any longer!" said Lucas in mock desperation. Brooke obviously not sensing the sarcasm replied with, "See I knew you were good for something other than..."

"Ewww, Brooke, spare me the details" Haley's face a grotesque image playing across her face

"the Warren Brothers! I got the Warren Brothers to come play Tric!"

"the what huh?" Peyton sat there obviously confused.

"P. Sawyer trust me, I think that Tric needs more that just one type of music. See, Warren Brothers this week, Jack's Mannequin the next. More than one genre, solves all financial problems at Tric."

"Wow, now that the big secret's out, we're gonna split." Haley and Nathan got up and walked out of the café.

" I can't believe she always calls us all together to give us some stupid news like that."

"hey hey now, I for a fact love the Warren Brothers, and Brooke is one of my best friends so none of that!" Haley playfully hit his arm as Nathan put up two hands in mock surrender. "All right, all right, you win…for now"

"Plus, Nate, remember, you still wouldn't know I existed if it wasn't for Brooke."

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"Um, girl meet boy, boy girl, enjoy." Brooke ran away quickly after the abrupt introduction.

"Hey, did u just move here? You know I definitely would've remembered seeing your face around Tree Hill." Nathan said as he shoved his hands in his pockets, confident that his lines were going to get him somewhere tonight.

"Yea, I moved to Tree Hill when I was about two, you know, 15 years ago, sat in front of you in homeroom since freshmen year but yea, you know, a face like mine you probably would've remembered." Haley said walking away pretty pissed off that she was just dissed like that.

"Haha, she definitely got up in your grill because you didn't invite her to the barbeque."

"Tim, just say that she's pissed that I just dissed her in front of everyone."

"okay man whatever, but you were burned."

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"yea, haha, got it Hales, asshole me, definitely."

"but you're an asshole that I love." They smiled at each other, not realizing what was in store for them.

**I know…it's very uneventful, but next chapter will be MUCH better…promise! **


	2. Knock on Wood

Karen sat at her kitchen table looking over expenses for Tric and for the café. She didn't think she'd be able to keep either open that long. It was getting to be too big of a burden for her to handle. Unless by some miracle she started generating higher revenue, it looked like both of her businesses would be shut done. Of course Andy offered to pay, but that was before he took of to only god knows where. She hasn't heard from him since. He hadn't been the first to break her heart, but this time it definitely hurt the most. Karen sat in a trance just thinking about everything when the ringing phone broke her daydream.

"Ms. Roe, we have the perfect solution to the financial problems the club has been having" an excited voice rang out over the line.

"Hello Brooke."

"Hi, so I've got this little country duo to come play at the club, this weekend and we don't have to pay them. Why? Because no one can resist the charm of Brooke Davis!"

"This could be good, just give me the cliff notes version of you idea and lets see what we can do with them."

"Good!"

After talking on the phone for quite a while, Karen finally agreed to this "little country duo", realizing that this band was going to make or break the future of the club. "Brooke I hope you know what you're doing…" Karen whispered silently to herself, locking the door of her house at the same time.

Another party at Nathan's apartment resulted in complete and utter destruction of his place. As him and Haley were cleaning up, or at least trying to, they somehow kept talking about their past.

"oh god remember that time in the field?" Haley said blushing profusely

"wow, my girlfriend said a sentence that was really specific and got right to the point" Nathan said airily throwing a cushion in her direction.

"shut up!"

----------------------------------------------

"Who wants to go streaking?" Brooke giggled, clapping her hands together in excitement.

Nathan, Haley, Lucas, Brooke, Peyton, Jake, Tim, and Bevin went away to Bevin's cottage in Tennessee. The excuse for going was a summer psychology class that Haley was taking, the real reason was to party day and night for an unforgettable summer away from North Carolina.

"Oh this is gonna be the shizzle!" Tim said running out the door after Brooke and Bevin.

"Does he ever talk like a normal person?" Lucas asked as they rest of group followed close behind.

"So here's the game, we all chug Code Red and whoever finishes last has to run across this field (points out beyond the porch) completely naked."

"Chug Code Red? Wow Brooke, I thought you of all people would've been, more…what's the word I'm looking for here…alcohol centered here." Jake replied seriously, then started laughing at the look on Brooke's face.

"Don't rub it in okay, they totally saw past my fake i.d. at the liquor store, so Code Red now, shots later."

They played Brooke's lame excuse of a game and the boys won by far. The girls however weren't having any of it and demanded that the boys are the ones that have to streak. It took a while to convince the boys but after 10 minutes they finally agreed to.

As Lucas, Nathan, Jake, and Tim all stripped down, Haley ran inside for the camera. They guys made a mad dash across the field right as red and blue lights flashed up the driveway of the cottage.

"Oh crap!" Nathan yelled running back for his clothes but all he found was Brooke standing behind the sliding glass door waving their clothes around and laughing hysterically.

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"Oh yea, that time at the field. You know, I still can't believe they took us in for public exposure. What a bunch of bull."

Jokingly Haley responded with, "yea, but you know, I'm sure you're cell mates were ecstatic when you showed up in prison with nothing but tighty whiteys on."

Nathan walked over to Haley wrapped his arms around her waist and said, "I'm not sure about my cell mates but I know you liked it." And then kissed her.

"nah, I think I like seeing Tim naked better."

"ouch, Hales, low blow."

"I know babe, but it's just easy"

They were too wrapped up in each other to hear the loud knocking at the front door. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to the person on the other side, someone came and answered the door. It took Nathan a while to register the scene playing out in front of him. Rage, Anger, Fear, and most of all hate took over him as he slammed the door shut.

Haley flinched hearing the door slam shut. "What was that all about?"

"That Hales, was the past, coming back to bite me in the ass like always."


	3. Keeping Love Alive

**I'm just trying to get the story rolling here, so 3 chapters in one day. Please review, tell me good, bad, should I keep going or just stop? **

_Breathe in for luck, Breathe in so deep, this air is blessed_

_You share with me_

_This night is wild so calm and dull_

_These hearts they race from self control_

It had become the anthem of Peyton's life. Whenever she got upset or some new drama had sprung up around her, she just popped in Dashboard and played the c.d. over and over again. This week, the drama was of course Jake, every week, the same problems over and over again. It was become hard to remember why she stayed with him in the first place. A silent tear rolled off her cheek as the second track started playing.

_Sometimes you've got to fall before you're found out,_

_Thanks for waiting this long_

_To show yourself, yourself_

_Because now that I can see you, I don't think you're worth a second glance_

She loved Jake, she loved him with her all heart but she didn't think she could put up with his antics night after night. The guy she had fallen in love with was not the man she knew now. She remembered back to a time when things seemed perfect with them.

----------------------------------------------

"Hey babe, I missed you."

"Jake, I went to the store; I was gone for what a whole 5 minutes. But its good to know you care."

"Of course I care! So how about I cook you dinner tonight. My parents won't be home." He said suggestively

"Oh really, well in that case, dinner at your house sounds great!"

Turns out Jake was having a barbeque with the whole group over. Still it was fun.

"What's going on with you and Jake nowadays?" Brooke asked, seeming generally interested.

"Well, you know, things are great. He's such a sweetheart. He's just so…perfect." A smile played across Peyton's lips just thinking about her boyfriend.

(_Later that night_)

"hey peyt, can you come inside quickly, I need help with something"

Peyton got up and sauntered into the house, wondering what she needed to bring out this time. She could feel everyone's eyes on her as she walked into the house. A small gasp escaped from her lips as she saw what lay in front of her. The house was filled with candles and white rose petals lay strewn across the floor.

"Jake?"

When there was no response she followed the path of rose petals up the stairs and into Jake's bedroom. He was standing there with a rose in his hand and when she came in walked right up to her.

"Peyton, I've wanted to say this for such a long time, so I'm just gonna say it, I've never felt this way about anyone in my life. Peyton, I love you so much and I've fallen so hard for you these past couple months and if you don't feel the same way, I'd be devastated. But here, he got down on one knee and produced a small velvet box from his pocket."

"Oh my god Jake. You're not proposing are you because I love you too but we're way too young to be married."

"Proposing? What no! This is a promise ring." He opened the small box revealing a ring with a silver band a single red diamond set in the middle, it was her birthstone. Inscribed on the inside of the ring was _P & J 3/12/04. _"See, no engagement ring. But I am promising to you that I will be loyal and faithful to you. I'll be here for you no matter what Peyton, and I love you so much."

A crying Peyton just nodded, accepting the ring and slipping it on her finger.

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Those were the days, she thought to herself. Peyton and Jake had been so in love, she couldn't point to one spot in time where everything just started to fall apart. Over time, he had just stopped loving her, or that's what she felt like anway.

They're relationship became constant fighting over such trivial topics such as what to do on the weekend, or what music to listen to in the car. They would just pick each other apart piece by piece, finding all the faults the other possessed. Sometimes she wished that he would just hit her, it would make breaking up with him so much easier. Jake would never do that though. He still believed that there was hope for them. He regretted so deeply all the mistakes he had made, especially since they all hurt the one person in life he truly cared about other than Jenny.

The mistakes he made in the past needed to be cleaned up and unfortunately the only way to do that was to break up with Peyton. The most devastating thing he could do. But there was a lot at stake.

As he got in his car and turned on the radio right as How_ Do You Keep Love Alive _by Ryan Adams blasted over the stereo.

_What does it mean?  
What does it mean?  
What does it mean to be so sad?  
When someone you love  
Someone you love is supposed to make you happy  
What do you do  
How do you keep love alive?  
When it won't_

This was definitely going to be the hardest thing that Jake has done in life. Breaking the heart of the one person that loved you was not going to be an easy task.


	4. Too Good is True

A confused Dan stood outside of the Nathan's door. He looked over to the woman standing next to him, speechless as to why his son would react in such a way.

"I, well um…" Dan stuttered to get the words out

"Shhh…" She whispered putting a finger seductively over Dan's lips, "it's okay hun, I understand, now let's go home, you're looking a little overdressed." And with a wink she turned her back and started walking down the stairs.

Inside the apartment, Nathan walked over to his stereo and popped in the Linkin Park c.d…Perfect for getting out all his pent up frustration…he walked into his bedroom slamming the door shut.

_It's easier to run  
Replacing this pain with something numb  
It's so much easier to go  
Than face all this pain here all alone_

Something has been taken from deep inside of me  
The secret I've kept locked away no one can ever see  
Wounds so deep they never show they never go away  
Like moving pictures in my head for years and years they've played

Hearing the words that were emanating from the speaker, Haley walked cautiously over to the bedroom door before slowly opening it. There was Nathan, sitting on his bed with a box in front on him.

"Nate? Is everything okay?...because you know, if you need sometime alone I'd be happy to go."

"No Hales, stay, there's…there's something we need to talk about."

Haley walked over and sat on the bed, a completely bemused look on her face.

"Haley…you have to promise me that you'll hear me out, that you'll listen to everything I'm going to tell you. No yelling, no leaving, no interrupting, just listening."

"Yea Nathan, whatever it is you can tell me. You know that." A confused Haley replied wanting to know what could possibly have this effect on him.

"outside that door just now was Dan."

"Nathan I get it, you and Dan don't get along, you don't like each other, it's not really a big secret."

"No Haley, no interrupting remember? Well, outside that door was Dan, my ex-girlfriend Trish, and… my daughter, Jenna."

"Your WHAT?" rising from the bed Haley walked out of the room looking frantically for her coat before heading for the door deciding her coat was the last thing she needed.

"Haley wait, you don't understa—"

"see that's where your wrong, I think I understand pretty damn well. Daughter Nathan? You never thought that something like having a daughter would effect me too? God Nathan, I have no idea what goes through that idiotic head of yours but a daughter?"

"Just, just hear me out okay?"

------------------------------------------

"Who the hell is this?" Nathan said, he couldn't help raising his voice, his girlfriend sitting right outside of HIS car making out with some other guy.

"Nate baby, I've got some news to tell you." A scared look Trish said. Standing up she had to look up a little to capture his eyes in hers. Her long dark hair fell in front of her face as she looked down at the ground.

"Trish just tell me now. We're done right? You came here with this guy to tell me that we're done. Its okay I totally understand. I bet you're gonna give me the whole 'it's not you it's me' spiel too. But you know what I totally understand the fact that you're a who—"

"I'm pregnant" she said interrupting his rant. Her sparkling brown eyes meeting his. "Nathan, I'm pregnant and I don't think it's yours." She said, tears starting to stream down her face.

"wha-…? I…you…you…"

"Nathan, this is John. My boyfriend, you were just a…a fling. And I just wanted to let you know…you know?"

"Know Trish I don't know."

"We're done Nathan, and for once, it really isn't you. I'm sorry, I never should've started seeing you. I love John and he loves me. And we're gonna have this baby, without you." And with those last words, Trish was gone.

------------------------------------------

"I never saw her again until today. Haley you've got to believe me, the reason I never told you was because I never knew whether or not the baby was mine. After she was born, Trish started sending me stuff…"

"Nathan, I'm sorry but this whole thing is too much for me to digest right now. I'm not mad, you've just got to give me some time. Okay? I'll come back here when I'm ready. You've just got to give me time." Haley left, leaving a distraught Nathan left in shock.

Over that past year he had thought a lot about his daughter. Well of course, he had to, with Trish constantly sending him pictures. He remembered the day when she was born, Jenna.

_John and Trish Hartmin_

_Are pleased to announce the birth of_

_Jenna Ashley-Deborah Hartmin_

_Born on November 7, 2004_

_Weighing 6lbs. 5oz. _

A little side note had been attached in Trish's handwriting. He unfolded the piece of paper reading it again once more.

_Dearest Nathan,_

_My daughter was born today. You don't have to worry about her, John's going to take good care of her. I've considered this decision for a while and I don't think a paternity test would be a good idea. I'd rather live life pretending that John is the father, but deep down I know that she's your daughter. I know you probably don't agree with my decision and that's okay. Don't worry she'll grow up knowing about you, but not you as her father. She'll know you as one of my best friends. If she ever asks why she has 2 middle names, I'll flat out tell her that your mom's name is Deborah. You don't have to worry about her. John and I will give her the best life any little girl could possibly want or ask for. But please Nathan, don't try to contact us. The last thing we all need right now is unnecessary drama in life. Just remember though, you have a daughter out there somewhere, and on her 18th birthday I'll make sure to tell her who her real father is. That way she can make the conscience choice of whether or not she wants to find you, but please until then, don't follow us. I love you Nathan, and so does Jenna._

_With all my Heart,_

_Trish_

Reading the letter again made Nathan physically sick to his stomach. He ran to the bathroom just in time and leaned his head into the toilet, still holding the paper to the side. How could she just pick up and leave the way she did? He didn't love her, he never did. But the person he did love was his daughter. HIS daughter. Thinking about it, he walked back into his bedroom and emptied the contents of the box onto the bed.

Pictures scattered everywhere as Brooke dumped her drawer on her bed, emptying it out completely. Looking through all the pictures of her and Lucas.

"Hey Luke, can you come up here?"

Lucas walked into the room seeing all the pictures on the bed, and grimaced realizing what Brooke had in store for him today.

"We're scrapbooking!" she said clapping her hands together.

Lucas was about to try to talk her out of the extremely boring activity she had opted upon, just as the phone rang.

"Yesss…saved by the bell" he thought

"Yea of course, I'll be there right away." She said hanging up the phone feeling 10 different emotions course through her body.

"Um…Lucas, can we finish this some other time I've gotta go."

"Yea of course…what's wrong?"

"It's Peyton. We've got to go…NOW"


	5. Otherside

Brooke stormed into the Sawyer house, not even stopping to close wait for Lucas. Brooke had gotten from her house to Peyton's house in record time; Lucas on the other hand spent the good 3 minute trip trying to convince Brooke to slow down. He took his time casually strolling up the walkway while Brooke made a mad dash inside.

Brooke ran frantically up the stairs worried about her best friend. She could here muffled sounds coming from Peyton's room and thinking the worse case scenario slammed the door against the wall while shouting incomprehensible words.

Peyton sat on the bed playing with Jenny (the muffled sounds) and laughing.

"Oh my god, Peyton, you did NOT just fake some big emergency just so I could come over to watch you play mom with Jake's kid."

"Hey Brooke, good to see you too!" Peyton said laughing even harder

Lucas came breathlessly into the room, "listen buddy, you leave her alone or I'll…" and he loses his sentence as he sees that obviously, there is no "intruder" and there doesn't really seem to be anything wrong for that matter.

"You guys, I told you to come over, I never said hurry up quickly some crazy guy has broken into my house and is threatening my dad with a rake!"

"Hey," said Lucas faking hurt, "it was just that one time."

"Not the point, no I said come over, something just happened."

"Come over something just happened? That could mean almost ANYTHING! It's not my fault that you're so vague. God P I just assumed the worst." Brooke said trying to decide whether to just move on or to stick this one to her.

"Sorry about that, next time I'll make sure to say, come over now…Jenny just said Brooke."

"Oh my god, no way! She did?" Brooke said giddily forgetting about her grudge against Peyton

"yea except it came out more sounding like…woooookkee" Peyton's imitation of Jenny sounding nothing like "Brooke".

"Alrite, since everything's okay with you guys," Luke said, then added "and it is," after seeing Brooke's facial expression, "I'm gonna go down to the river court to meet up with the guys, so I'll see you later" he walked over and gave Brooke a soft peck on the lips, "and you" he said motioning to Peyton "need to work on you baby imitations, they kind of suck"

"hey!" she said throwing a pillow at his head as he walked out the door

"Okay P. Sawyer, make her say it again."

"Brooke, I can't just make her talk, she's what, like a year old?"

"Whatever" Brooke went and sat down in front of Peyton's computer screen, blue light reflecting from the screen and onto her face.

The screen color changed to black as a frustrated Haley hit the monitor.

"Come on you stupid piece of arggggh" she said her irritation becoming more apparent by the second.

She looked down at the notebook in her lap, rereading the notes she had just taken.

_Child Custody: when a child is lied to, often times the other parent will receive full custody of said child---Does Nathan's case count? Jenna is only 2, so technically, Trish hasn't lied to her since Jenna doesn't know any better…oh god, why am I even using their names? _

Haley looked down reading and rereading the last comment. She had to help Nathan. It's the only way that they could possibly work things out. If Jenna was Nathan's daughter, that made her just as much a part of Nathan's life as well as Haley's.

"Whoooo" Haley exhaled sharply. She wasn't going to give up on Nathan, she loved him too much. "Alrite, on with the research." And almost magically her computer screen flicked on revealing a desktop picture of her and Nathan, Nathan behind her with his arms wrapped around her. Haley smiled at the picture, grabbed her keys and left her house.

Haley had run all the way to Nathan's house only to realize upon arrival that he was at the river court with Lucas. She sat down, firmly rooting herself against the door determined to sit and wait for Nate to get home. Slipping on her headphones, she pushed play sending Gavin Degraw through her ears.

_I'm going to love you more than anyone  
I'm going to hold you closer than before  
And when I kiss your soul, your body'll be free  
I'll be free for you anytime  
I'm going to love you more than anyone  
Look in my eyes, what do you see?  
Not just the color  
Look inside of me  
Tell me all you need and I will try  
I will try_

Jake decided against going to Peyton's house. Today just wasn't a good day. He'd been telling himself that for the past couple days. The first day he was determined to go. He had even gotten into the car but then half way to her house he decided against it. Whatever he had to tell her could wait. He couldn't hurt her, not now, especially since Peyton and Jenny had grown closer. He smiled remembering the other day Peyton telling him so excitedly and animatedly how Jenny had said Brooke's name. He even let a small laugh remembering Peyton informing him of Brooke's reaction to the whole thing.

Haley slid another c.d. into her player at home.

_Take this pink ribbon off my eyes  
I'm exposed  
And it's no big surprise  
Don't you think I know  
Exactly where I stand  
This world is forcing me  
To hold your hand  
'Cause I'm just a girl, little 'ol me  
Don't let me out of your sight  
I'm just a girl, all pretty and petite  
So don't let me have any rights_

"haha got that right Gwen." Haley mumbled to herself

"You know, they say talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity." Nathan said standing in the doorframe, hand up protectively and surrendering

"some people ring the door bell, but not you…why is that?"

"Haley, cut the crap. Listen, I know you came over the other day so I just wanted to make sure everything was okay. I'm trying really hard to give you space but you looked so upset the other day, leaving so quickly."

"It's nothing, it's just that I was waiting for you forever and then you never showed, so yea I was a little upset, but I've got news."

"Yea, really?"

"Yes. I think I know a way for you to get your daughter, that is of course if you want her. You see, all you need to do is take a paternity test, and the we could bring the case to court and I'll help and I'll be there for you through the whole thing."

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"no, I don't want my daughter, no I don't want a paternity test, no, I don't want your help."

Nathan walked out of the room leaving a shocked, confused, and hurt Haley standing there, her mouth slightly agape.


	6. When i Go Down

_Dear Diary, _

_Oh god, I feel so stupid writing this. It's been what…like a decade since the last time I kept a diary? Actually, it was about the time my mother died. Wow, that seems like it was decades ago, turns out stupid Peyton was wrong once again. I know, I know, I'm not stupid, but sometimes I feel like that's all I'll ever be, a naïve girl making wrong choices. Wrong choices about school, friends, music, art, and most importantly boys. Boys, I remember a time not too long ago when boys had cooties and Brooke and I wouldn't touch them with a ten-foot pole. Guess again. Things have changed AGAIN. I really thought Jake was, well, perfect. Of course there were the little mishaps, such as Jenny, but he was the best father I've ever seen. And yes, we did have our little arguments but they are about such stupid petty little things like who was going to wash the dishes and what to watch on tv. I feel like this breakup came out of nowhere. How could he do this to me? Especially at a time like this. So that's a little unfair because a time like this is a time where nothing is going on but still. He just showed up at my doorway and said those awful words. He wasn't even man enough to give me a real reason for why he was dumping my sorry ass. He just did it and game the lame excuse, "there's some things going on with me that I don't want you to be involved in. I'll always love you Peyt, there's no denying that, not now not ever." Yea I'm sure that what I'll girlfriends want to hear, "I'll always love you." Well if you always love me why won't you just be with me? ARRRGGHHH! He pisses me off so much. I've spent too many nights crying over him it's ridiculous. And what's the deal with Haley and Nathan now? I'm worried about him. But I'd never tell him that. It's just, that ditsy ex of his showed up and managed to screw everything up and by the way did I mention that she's now DATING DAN! Who does that? It's like she woke up one day and decided well, my daughter's grandfather is looking pretty hot so let me try to get in his pants? EWW! I can totally understand why Nathan wants nothing to do with Jenna, but still, it's his daughter, he of all people should know how it is when a person grows up with Dan as an influence. Dan did a horrible job raising his own kids let alone someone else's. He should receive a lifetime band from reproducing and raising children. Back to Nathan, he totally flipped on Haley when all she was doing was trying to help him. Nathan's about to ruin the only good thing that's happened to him. I've tried to tell Haley that he'll come around in his own time, and he will because I've talked to him and he's not going to let Haley go that easily. They're like a puzzle, they fit so perfectly together. Jake and I however, I guess, when the pieces don't fit, there's nothing I can do about it. That's a song by the way. Move on by the Warren Brothers. I'm usually not a big country fan but I guess that's what happens when the only important in my life just tears out my heart and stomps on it. All right, well it's been good diary but now that I'm done venting, sorry but this page has got to go…._

And with that Peyton ripped the page out of the book, folded it in half then took a book of matches from her drawer. She watched as the flames consumed the paper then placed it in the sink before it could burn her fingers. She looked outside at the night sky and wondered just how many other heart broken girls were out there looking at the same exact sky wondering why.

Brooke closed the curtains, waiting for Lucas to come was taking way to long and let's face it, Brooke is not the most patient of people. She slowly picked up her cell phone thinking about what she was going to do for the night.

"Got It!" she murmured to herself slowly.

Haley was about to go to bed when she heard pebbles gently hitting her window. She hopped out of bed instantly remembering all the nights Nathan would throw pebbles and was slightly dismayed when she saw that it wasn't the Scott she was hoping to see.

"Luke, what do you want?"

"Can you come down here for like 2 minutes? I need to ask you something."

"Why can't you just ask me now?"

"Hales, it's important, just come down please."

Haley grumbled to herself and grabbed the sweatshirt that was sitting on her chair. She slowly climbed down the stairs and put on a pot of coffee taking an agonizingly long time or so Lucas thought. She figured if she was going to sit up talking to Lucas all night, there might as well be some reward. Her coffee was brewed and poured and she slowly opened her back door.

"Nathan!"

"All right, now that that's all sorted out, I'm going to go, I've got to meet Brooke." Lucas said jumping off the porch before Haley could object.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were mad at me." She said in a soft voice

"It wasn't you I was mad at. Let me explain…please."

"Go ahead, I figure it's least you can do right? So shoot, tell me what's up." She said this trying not to sound too desperate to find out what was going on but instead she just sounded anxious. She was silently cursing herself inside for sounding to needy.

"So you know that Trish is back."

"Mmmhmm"

"and you know that I have a daughter"

"of course, you told me all of this"

"right, but what you don't know is that Trish banned me from seeing her because…"

"what is it?"

"because I had hit her. It was only one time, one time and that screwed up any chance I've ever had of fully knowing my daughter. Before you say anything, she is my daughter, there was no other guy, she told me that later but she was too afraid of me after that."

A speechless Haley just sat there mouth slightly agape as she was trying to grasp all this new information. Nathan? Hit someone? It seemed close to impossible. Well, now it did, there was a time when no one could get through to him but she had been able to do that and he was a changed person now, she thinks.

"I went away to a counseling facility after that. I wanted to make sure that I would never hurt someone that meant so much to me, Jenna not Trish, again. I would completely understand if you wanted nothing to do with me, hell, I'd want nothing to do with me but I love you Haley, and I would never hurt anyone especially you again."

Haley got up and slowly walked to the door, coffee mug still in hand. She opened the door and started to close it when she turned around.

"Well come on, it's cold outside and we've got some stuff to figure out."

Lucas sped all the way over to Brooke's house only to realize, of course, Brooke Davis never gets stood up, she does the standing up. He parked his car and was trying to think of places where Brooke would possibly be. He hit his hand to the wheel while speeding away quickly.

Brooke was at Lucas's house waiting to surprise him from when he got home from whatever he was doing. She had "made" him dinner and was setting it up when she could here the door from his room open.

"That's my cue to leave." Said Karen, setting down the last dish of Chinese food spread out on a nice platter.

"Thanks!"

Lucas walked into the kitchen starving and at first didn't realize the set table.

"hey babe, I was wondering if you were ever going to come home"

"well you not, Peyton was getting pretty lonely…" and he let the sentence linger leaving the rest up to his girlfriends imagination.

"not funny broody, every joke about something like that again and…" she stopped mid sentence and ran over to the window. The sound of tires screeching and a woman's scream could be heard and as she looked out the window her fears were confirmed.

"Oh my god" and with that, the couple left there food untouched and ran outside Lucas' phone to his ear talking to 911.


	7. Knock Me Down

_Baby, what do you say we just get lost?  
Leave this one horse town like two rebels without a cause.  
I got people in Boston.   
Ain't your daddy still in Des Moines?  
We can pack up tomorrow.  
Tonight, let's flip a coin_

He wished he was saying this to her, she had no idea how much he wished that she was sitting right there next to him, making fun of him for listening to Jo Dee Messina

_Heads, Carolina Tails, California.  
Somewhere greener, somewhere warmer.  
Up in the mountains, down by the ocean.  
Where? It don't matter, as long as we're goin'  
Somewhere together. I've got a quarter.  
Heads, Carolina Tails, California._

"If only life were that simple. If only I could flip a coin and it would tell me what to do with this mess I've made. If only's aren't going to cut it anymore, pull yourself together," he mumbled to himself

_We can load what we own in the back of a U-haul van.  
Couple modern day Moses', searchin for the promised land.  
We can go four hundred miles before we stop for gas.  
We can drive for a day, and then we'll take a look at the map._

There was a time when this would have been so easy. She would've packed up and left with him if only he had asked her. Why didn't he just ask her. Then they wouldn't be in this huge mess.

_Heads, Carolina Tails, California.  
Somewhere greener, somewhere warmer.  
Up in the mountains, down by the ocean.  
Where? It don't matter, as long as we're goin'  
Somewhere together. I've got a quarter.  
Heads, Carolina Tails, California._

So which way's it going to be? Back to her house or are am I going to high tail it to California?

_We're gonna get outta here if we gotta ride a Greyhound bus.  
Boy, we're bound to outrun the bad luck that's tailin' us_

_Heads, Carolina Tails, California.  
Somewhere greener, somewhere warmer.  
Up in the mountains, down by the ocean.  
Where? It don't matter, as long as we're goin'  
Somewhere together. I've got a quarter.  
Heads, Carolina Tails, California._

"Ooo SHHHHHIIIIIIIIIII TTTTTTTTT" he slowly closed his eyes and then opened them. He had hit his head against the steering wheel but all he cared about now was making sure she was safe. He had tried not to hit her and all that got him was a body pinned between the lamppost and the car. By now a crowd had gathered around. They weren't sure what to do. If they move the car would the body it cause any more harm to her? Would the car ignite into flames if they didn't do anything.

"The ambulance is on the way, I just called, who's hurt?" said Lucas trying to push through the large crowd and without any luck remained all the way in the back. He tried seeing who was in the car and what had been hit but no one would let him through.

He slowly opened the car down and fell out, his legs went limp and he couldn't move. He tried to talk but all that came out was "help her somebody please help her" in a whisper that no one could hear. The body of the girl lay on the hood of the car pinned from the waist down. She was lifeless or so it seemed.

"Everyone OUT OF THE WAY! PARAMEDICS COMING THROUGH" one of the paramedics yelled as loud as their vocal capacity would allow. Everyone took this as their cue and started walking back towards their houses. They were curious to see what was going on but didn't want to interfere. Lucas grabbed Brooke's hand and pulled her after the paramedics.

Slowly, Brooke's hand went up to her mouth as tears spilled out of her eyes. "Jake? Oh mi gosh, what happened is he going to be okay?" she rambled quickly, not noticing the girl pinned at first. The paramedics quickly took action while another ambulance appeared and rushed to the girl, it was then that they realized who was pinned.

"PEYTON! Peyt PLEASE WAKE UP PEYT WAKE UP!" Brooke yelled terrified for what had become of her best friend. All she could see was the mass amount of blood on the hood of the car. "HURRY UP DAMNIT! THAT'S MY BEST FRIEND. PLEASE HELP HER!" Brooke kept yelling and yelling until she collapsed from exhaustion. This was not happening, not to her, especially not to Peyton.

Lucas turned to his mom and asked her if she could take Brooke back to their house and keep her calm as possible. He informed his mom to call Peyton's dad, Nathan, Haley, and anyone else that should now. Lucas had to repeat himself 3 times as Karen just stared at Peyton. Over the past year she had come to regard Peyton as a sort of foster daughter. That was her daughter pinned, lifeless and helpless. Lucas understood this but Brooke needed to be calmed and people needed to be contacted. It finally took Brooke to get Karen back to the house.

"What can I do to help? Is there anything I can do to help? Just tell me what to do." Lucas said sounding concerned, worried, scared, and anxious just with one tone.

"We'll need you to slowly reverse the car. The only chance of saving her is saving her from this car." Said the paramedic, "normally we'd have the fire department do it but they're---"

"I don't care I'll do it. Just tell me when to slow down and stuff."

"Be careful, if we do this wrong, she's going to die, listen to my instructions and take your time."

Lucas got behind the wheel of Jake's 4x4. He unhurriedly put his hands on the wheel. He only had one shot to do this and he was definitely not going to screw it up.

"Nate, can you pick up the phone please?" Haley called from the kitchen, they were just about to start talking, for real talking no more small talk and once again another outside source was interrupting. She heard Nathan talk quickly and in short phrases and then hung up. "Um…who was it? Any messages?"

"Hales, we need to go, there's been an accident."

"Care to be a little more specific?" She asked flirtatiously not realizing the full weight of the situation.

"All I could understand was there's been an accident with Peyton and Jake and as of now, neither of them is looking like they're gonna make it so we need to go now."

Haley stood, feet glued to the floor from temporary shock but Nathan quickly grabbed her shoes and ushered her out the door. Lucas 2 blocks away so they decided to run over. When they go there they was Lucas behind the wheel with Peyton pinned and Jake on a gurney being pushed into the back of the ambulance. Their first impression that was Lucas had been driving and he'd run over them. One of the officers quickly told them what had happened once they said they were friends of the two injured.

"As of now we're not really sure what happened. We took his BAC and there was nothing. He just plowed into the girl. The paramedics aren't sure whether or not she's going to make it. We need you to cooperate with us okay?" they both nodded their heads silently. "We need you to identify the two so we know who they are. After that, we'll need you to come down to the hospital with us. The girl---"

"Peyton, her names Peyton" Haley interrupted

"The girl, Peyton, will need a blood transfusion as soon as possible and hopefully one of you will be a match. Come one, I'll drive you to the hospital."

By the time the officer was done talking Peyton was already in the ambulance and both ambulances had sirens going signaling emergency and took off towards the hospital.


	8. Come a Little Closer

The whole gang sat patiently, well, as patient as a group of friends could be who were waiting to find out whether not just one, but two of their friends were going to live to see another day.

"Hey guys…"Jake said from his wheelchair. He said it hesitantly and they could all tell that they were wondering if an explanation was going to follow. After a long silence, Nathan stood up and walked out of the room. He wasn't going to just sit in there with the man that almost and might have killed his first love. Not today, not any other day.

Nathan walked outside of the hospital. He took a deep breath in and let his frosty breath escape from his lips. He felt a hand on his back and turned around to see Haley standing next to him, ready to comfort him as needed.

"Nate? Is everything alright? You looked kind of funny back there. Anything you want to talk about I hope you know that I'm here for you."

"Of course, I know, it's just, this hits too close to home for me you know?"

"Um…" Haley let her sentence linger off; she wasn't really sure what this had to do with anything previously that had happened in his life.

"Hey Babe?" Trish called from the kitchen

"Yea?" Nathan called back from the behind the door of his bedroom

"I um, I need to tell you something."

Nathan emerged from the bedroom holding the towel around his waist. "What is it kid?"

"I love you." Of course this wasn't the first time he was hearing it from her, but her always loved to hear those words come out of her mouth. He loved it when she'd stop him from whatever it was he was doing just to tell him she loved him. This time it was bittersweet because Trish was going away for the summer.

"What does that have to do with this hitting close to home?" Haley asked, not wanting to seem rude but wanting to hear more.

"Just hold on okay? I was driving her to the airport and you probably remember that night."

"Nate slow down, it's coming down hard, you can barely see out of the windshield."

It was the hardest it had ever rained in Tree Hill. No one had seen it come done like this before, trees were done and power lines were exposed, but for some strange reason, Nathan thought he had to get Trish to the airport on time for her flight. He didn't see it coming nor did he stop once he had hit her.

He skid off the road trying to avoid a puddle but ended up hitting a little girl that wasn't visible from the sidewalk. He didn't even stop to make sure she was alive. Later, he found out that the girl had survived but was now paralyzed from the waste down. He had actually seen her around town a couple of times and would even pretend that his "little sister" didn't need the brand new pair of jeans and she could have it if she wanted.

"You see Hales, I'm a horrible person. I didn't stop to make sure that girl was okay. I just kept driving. At least Jake had the decency to stop given the fact that he too was injured. But you see, this is why I'm not going to fight for custody of my daughter. I can't be around her. I hurt one little girl I didn't even know imagine what I could do to someone that I do know and do love."

"Nathan, you can't think like that. You think that leaving your daughter with Trish and Dan is the right thing for her? You know what kind of person Dan is. You know what he's capable of and you're just going to let him get away with raising YOUR daughter?"

"Guys good news" Jake said wheeling himself out of the sliding doors of the hospital. "Peyton just got out of surgery and she's in stable condition."

For the first time that night, Nathan cried.

Lucas held Brooke in his arms as she cried tears of joy. If anything had happened to Peyton, she wouldn't be able to survive.

"Remember you said we needed a song… well I have one for us." Lucas said brandishing his I-Pod.

_Come a little closer, baby  
I feel like layin' you down  
On a bed sweet surrender  
Where we can work it all out  
There ain't nothin' that love can't fix  
Girl, it's right here at our fingertips  
So come a little closer baby,  
I feel like layin' you down_

Come a little closer, baby  
I feel like lettin' go  
Of everything that stands between us  
And the love we used to know  
I wanna touch you like a cleansing rain  
Let it wash all the hurt away  
So come a little closer baby  
I feel like lettin' go

If there's still a chance  
Then take my hand  
And we'll steal away  
Off into the night  
'till we make things right  
The suns gonna rise on a better day

Come a little closer baby  
I feel like strippin' it down  
Back to the basics of you and me  
What makes the world go round  
Every inch of you against my skin  
I wanna be stronger than we've ever been  
So come a little closer baby  
I feel like strippin' it down

Just a little bit closer baby  
Just a little bit closer baby  
Come a little bit closer baby  
I feel like layin' you down

"aw, Lucas, I love it. What's it called?"

"it's um… "Come a Little Closer" by Dierks Bentley. I knew you'd love it seeing as its coun—"

"Are you here to see Peyton?" the doctor interrupted.

"Yes we are. Is everything okay doc?" Brooke said getting up

"We have some bad news."


End file.
